A MOTHER was suffering from a "complete misinterpretation of reality" when she stabbed her two young daughters to death, a jury was told.

Samira Lupidi, 24, is on trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of murdering her two young children, three-year-old Evelyn Lupidi and Jasmine Weaver, aged 17 months, on November 17 last year.

She denies murder, but has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Lupidi and her children were taken to a refuge in Bradford on November 16 after she reported she had been assaulted by her partner, Carl Weaver, at their home in Church Lane, Heckmondwike.

After admitting the killings, Lupidi was taken into custody, where she was assessed in January by Professor Gillian Mezey, a professor of Forensic Psychiatry and consultant forensic psychiatrist.

She told the court that test results indicated that Lupidi had a borderline personality disorder and a "moderate to severe" depression disorder.

"The most significant aspect was her belief system that she started having fears of being killed, kidnapped, left with a paedophile, or having her children taken away from her," she said.

"She became increasingly frightened and desperate that she would be killed and something terrible was about to happen.

"She had become unwell, believed untrue things, and behaved as she did because of that."

Asked by Lupidi's defence barrister, Angela Rafferty QC, whether she was suffering from a mental abnormality at the time she killed her children, Professor Mezey said: "Yes", adding the condition would have affected her ability to form rational judgements and exercise self-control.

When asked whether a mental abnormality was the cause or a significant factor in Lupidi stabbing her children, Professor Mezey again answered: "Yes."

Giving evidence to the jury, Professor Mezey said from what she had seen and read of Lupidi, she had been a "very good mother" who was committed to her children.

She said her personality disorder may have developed in her childhood, when she suffered physical abuse and neglect, and attempts by her own mother to kill her.

"As a psychiatrist, I would have to ask what leads someone who clearly loves their children to kill them in such a brutal way," she said.

"In the weeks leading up to the offence, Miss Lupidi was not behaving in a rational way.

"Her state-of-mind provides an explanation of what she did up until November 17.

"It is illogical to say that her state-of-mind can have no part to play in influencing her actions at the point of the killings."

Following the stabbings, Lupidi said: "If I can’t have them, he can’t have them either", referring to Mr Weaver.

When prosecutor Peter Moulson QC asked Professor Mezey whether a sentiment of revenge could act as justification in the mind of a killer, she replied: "Yes, but almost exclusively among men. Almost never in a woman."

Asked for her interpretation of Lupidi's words, Professor Mezey said: "That is a statement that is a culmination of weeks of abnormal behaviour and increasing distress, based on a complete misinterpretation of reality."

The jury was told today that Lupidi would not be giving any evidence in her own defence.

The trial continues.